Started giving her her own spoon at 6 months when she stared solids. Stop feeding him, let him self feed w/ his hands and he'll play w/ the spoon but eventually get there. DD has been able to feed herself a bite from a pre-loaded spoon since practically the beginning.
Then they watch you and figure it out. DD has had spoons and forks all along and is pretty good but still only uses them 25-50% of the time at 17 months.